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Conditioning
In order to get good at wushu, you will need a proper training routine. Whether you choose a beginners or an advanced routine, depends on your current fitness and your goals. A lot of intermediate wushu practitioners make the mistake to choose an advanced routine, which can lead to over training within just a few days. Watch out for the symptoms of over training and cut back if necessary. Also, To increase efficiency and to avoid injury, you should always warm up and stretch before a wushu training session. Plus, in order to get rid of harmful substances like lactic acid and to avoid soreness, you should also cool down after training. Foreword *First of all, you have to define a goal. Do you want to compete in wushu? Are you just doing wushu for health and fitness? Or are you already doing an other sport (gymnastics, breakdance, capoeira etc) and just want to learn a few wushu moves? Stay realistic, set your goals high, but not too high. Again, you don't wanna over train. *Then determine your weaknesses. Weaknesses could be technique, strength, endurance, flexibility, a specific jump, etc. At the beginning endurance is the most common weakness. If you are a beginner, you really have to work on your technique. But if you don't have the endurance, you can't do that or lose focus very soon. Sometimes your coach or a friend can help you point out these weaknesses. *Then hit these little problems with the right routine. Endurance, flexibility and plyometric strength are very important in wushu. Intermediate athletes should be able to perform the front splits, hold each stance for at least 2 minutes and easily run 5km. BTW, in my opinion there is no wushu training routine without running. You should go for a short 15 minutes run every day and run 5 to 10 km at least once month. *''The Average Wushu Workout:'' **Warm up 5 to 10 minutes **Stretch 5 to 10 minutes **Do the basic kicks (10 minutes) **Do the sweeps (back sweep and front sweep= **Do the jumps (flying frontkick, whirlwind kick, lotus kick, butterfly kick, b-twist, cartwheel without hands, cartwheel without hands - twist) **Work on your hand form sequences. **Work on your wushu hand forms. **Work on your weapon form sequences. **Work on your wushu weapon forms. **Cool down and stretch Standart Routines Beginners Routine This routine is good for everybody who is new to wushu or had to rest for a while because of an injury or disease. Also choose this routine if you are on a vacation and/or don't have much time. Training volume: 3 to 5 hours per week. (3 days a week) **Wushu: Concentrate on your technique. Endurance and Technique are always important, no matter if you are a beginner or an advanced athlete. Warm up a few minutes, stretch, and then work on your basic kicks. Do your jumps at least twice a weeks and spend 20 minutes per workout working on your forms. **Gymnastics: That's not a traditional wushu thing, but I recommend you learn some basic gymnastics skills. Work on your handstand, the rolls etc. Give your gymnastics 30 to 60 minutes per week. **Stretch before every workout. Do static and dynamic stretches, but avoid PNF stretches at the beginning. **Running: Run 5 minutes before every workout and go for a long run once a month. **Weight training: If you are already into weight training, you can add one workout per week. But you shouldn't be sore for the rest of the week. Weight training is not really important at the beginning. I recommend you just do some plyometrics, stretch and work on your technique. Intermediate Routine This is the right routine for you if you wanna get serious about wushu. You are no longer a beginner and want to get all the jumps down and maybe compete in the future.Training volume 5 to 15 hours per week. (4 to 5 days a week) **Wushu: At this point you would start working out twice a day. Do a short workout in the morning. Run a few km, do static stretches and go through a few movements/sequences. Your real workout should be in the afternoon. Warm up, stretch, do the basic kicks and then the jumps. Also work on your hand forms and the weapons in the afternoon. At the end of your workout you should stretch again (just a few minutes). **Gymnastics: Again, this is not really a traditional wushu thing, but I really think every wushu practitioner should learn a little bit of gymnastics. At this point you should already know how to do a handstand and maybe start learning the round-off and the back handspring. **Stretching : Add an intensive stretching workout. This stretching session should last about 45 minutes and include isometric and/or pnf stretches. Actually, you can do this stretching workout every 2nd week. **Running: Run before every workout and go for a long, 1 hour run every second week. One week you do your stretching workout, the next week you go for a run. **Weight training: Do barbell squats, bench press and other free weight exercises once a week. Your goal is NOT to bulk up, but strengthen your muscles. A lot of wushu athletes think that weights will make them slow. That's not true! Weight training can actually make you faster. But the reason why I recommend weight training is that I have seen too many wushu athletes who only do plyometrics and have serious knee problems before they reach their 20s. Advanced Routine This training routine is for everybody who wants to be the best :). Don't go straight to this routine if you are a beginner, because you will over train after 2 days and injure yourself. Even though this is an advanced routine, you should not work out every day. The more you work out, the more important rest becomes. At this point you wanna go to your limits. However, don't follow this routine for more than 6 weeks. Training volume: 15 to 25 hours per week. (5 to 6 days) **Wushu: You still work out in the morning, like if you were following my intermediate wushu routine. But now you add a third workout 2 or 3 times per week. If you are a student, this 2nd workout could be during PE class or at the weekend. The 10 o'clock workout would consist of stretching, basic kicks and forms. In the afternoon you would stretch, do just a few basic kicks, then work on your jumps and then your weapons. **Gymnastics: Keep up the basic gymnastics training from the intermediate routine. At this point you should start working on you flips. **Stretching : Work on your holds (like the standing split) twice a week. **Running: Same as in the intermediate wushu routine. **Weight training: Same as in the intermediate wushu routine. *'Pre-Competition Wushu Routine:' This routine is for the last 4 weeks before your wushu competition. **Wushu: You basically start with the advanced routine and focus on the movements you have in your form. The first 2 weeks you practice your form section (duan) by section. In week 3 you do 2 sections at once, and the last week you always perform your entire form like if you were actually competing. **Gymnastics: If the form you will perform contains any gymnastics moves, keep doing gymnastics once a week. If you are performing in di tang quan, do 2 gymnastics workouts per week. **Stretching: Don't apply any isometric or dynamic stretches the day before your competition. **Running: Don't go for a long run 3 days before the competition. **Weight training: Don't do weights, 3 to 5 days before your competition. **The last day: Whatever you do on your last day, don't drive you pulse over 150bps, don't apply any ballistic stretches, don't apply any isometric stretches. Just go through your form a few times ad relax. References * Wushu Mavi.com Category:Conditioning Category:Health Category:Sport Category:Wushu Category:Sports